Using Other Players to Improve Your Game
Poker is an individual game played amongst individuals. However, as you begin to improve your game, you will find that if you want to really improve, you need to work with other players to help improve your own game.
The first thing that a person may think of when one mentions getting someone else to help may be that they don’t want the other person to know how they play. While this can be a concern, a truly great poker player should always be modifying their game, so this should not be as big a concern.
The primary advantage to having someone help you with your game is getting another perspective on how to play the game or even specific scenarios. For example, we pretty much have a set idea of how to play a hand that is the nuts, but we may not have the same thoughts about playing a drawing hand against a loose-aggressive player. Also, there may be information that you can pass on to other players to help them improve.
Another advantage to having people help you with your game is that you make friends in the game and have a support system. This is vitally important when one goes through a down period in the game. Many people don’t understand what a poker player goes through. However, your friends that play know what you’re going through because they are going through the same exact thing.
The way that you go about having people help you varies. For example, the members of the famed “Mayfair Club” would get together after long sessions at the table and sit around either dinner or drinks and discuss the plays that they made. They exchanged ideas and improved each others games. You might recognize some of those players as Howard Lederer, Dan Harrington, Erik Seidel, and Steve Zolotow.
Other ways would be to sit around a table and go over specific scenarios with your friends. If you are an online player, another option for you may be to have your friends sit and watch you play and then critique your play. Whatever option you choose, it can only serve to improve your game.
So if you are looking for ways to improve your game, start talking to other players. Not only can their ideas help you improve, but the added thought you are giving to your game will help you to improve your game on the way to becoming a champion of poker.
Tags: holdem, Poker, Poker Players, Poker Strategy, Texas Holdem